


VI

by AllOfTheFanfic



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, M/M, Suicide mention, ghost/warlock au, self harm tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 02:32:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6034695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllOfTheFanfic/pseuds/AllOfTheFanfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus moves into a new house and gets a new unexpected roommate. Who knew ghosts could be this cute?</p>
            </blockquote>





	VI

**Author's Note:**

> To understand the name look at Tarot cards.

VI

* * *

 

Looking at the house now Magnus wondered if he should regret his decision now or wait a few days. The house was old, that much was obvious, the small store-front hid living rooms behind it and the second story was all living rooms. Putting hands on his hips, he looked at the dirty windows that were surprisingly still intact. Actually, the whole place seemed fine, just dusty, which was odd considering how long it had stayed unused. A voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“What are you doing here?” He turned to see an old lady watching him. Magnus gave her one of his famous smiles and walked closer to her.

“I’m moving in here.”

“You won’t stay long. No one does.” The man raised his eyebrows at that.

“How come?”

She leaned closer to him as if she were sharing a secret and whispered, “People say this place is cursed. A witch used to live here before abandoning the place. And a few years back, a boy killed himself there and they say he’s still there, scaring off anyone who dares to enter. Ii’s haunted. That’s why even the teenagers stay away from this place. No one stays here for long.” She repeated shaking her head. Magnus just chuckled and gave her a grin.

“That witch was my mother.” He laughed when the woman seemed to pale at that, not unkindly. “And I know about the boy, I’m not scared of ghosts.” He winked at her. “Better than any anti burglar system.” He gave her another smile and she just chuckled.

“Brave boy. Let’s see if you’ll say the same after a week or two. Come by if you need any help, I live right in front of you.” She walked off with a wave and Magnus smiled, shaking his head. _This might be fun._

The door opened easily, to Magnus’ surprise, and just like the exterior, the inside was just dusty. There was some trash inside that showed that some people had managed to sneak in at some point, but nothing seemed broken. Magnus walked around the big house slowly looking around, memorizing the rooms and imagining what they could be used for. He felt the heavy atmosphere as he stepped into the second floor. Magnus knew exactly which room to go to; it was obvious not only from the cold that seemed to seep through the hallway from that direction, but also from the old, forgotten, yellow police tape. Getting rid of the tape, Magnus stepped into the small room and shivered. There was still a puddle of old, dried blood soaked into the floorboards that no one bothered to clean up. He looked around the room slowly but didn’t step further, not wanting to disrupt the atmosphere. He turned around and closed the door with a sigh going back to inspecting the rooms.

Magnus only returned to the room once more, to light three candles—one black, one red and one white—on the blood puddle and left again, closing the door behind him.

Cleaning the house was an annoying task. There was so much dust everywhere, and his cat wasn’t helping him. Chairman Meow seemed more interested in catching the dust bunnies than helping Magnus clean. As the day neared its end, Magnus was only done with the first floor. He had to sleep on an old couch, as the movers with most of his stuff would only be there the next day.

He woke with a groan. The couch was NOT comfy. His back hurt not only from the old piece of furniture but also from the work he had done the day before. Magnus stretched slowly, while petting his little white and gray cat, smiling at its purr. He thanked his luck that the water and electricity were already on in the old house and with a cup of coffee, walked out into the backyard, enjoying the good weather. Magnus took note of the forest that was close and walked around the small yard looking at what his mother left there. He recognised a small garden where she’d grow plants as he walked past it to another part of the garden that seemed secluded from the rest of the yard. He looked closer, looking for a few particular plants—bluebells, buttercups, cowslips, roses, some other plants that had yet to bloom and show what they were—though it was abandoned Magnus patted himself on the back for recognizing the little arrangement and took out a shiny coin from his pocket and left it there.

His quiet morning was disrupted by the sound of a truck approaching. When the movers were done, Magnus was left with a pile of boxes and more work than he wanted. Magnus started regretting the idea of coming there just because it required so much work. Though he loved redecorating.

Magnus smiled softly and hummed to the music playing through the rooms as he put away the last things from one of the boxes. Everything was slowly coming together. The bookshelf was now filled to the brim with old books, there were candles everywhere, his herbs found a place hung against one of the walls, glass vials standing right next to it. The rooms filled with sandalwood scent and Magnus started feeling at home. Chairman was napping on the new sofa, exhausted from a day of chasing dust moths and shadows.

Magnus froze as he felt a shiver run down his spine. Pursing his lips, he put the candle he was holding down and made his way to the stairs slowly. The atmosphere on the second floor seemed to have gotten better but it was still unpleasant. He reached the room at the end of the hall and opened the door slowly, looking at the candles. Just as he thought, one had already burned through. The black one. Another shiver ran through him and he could feel someone staring at his back. Slowly squaring his shoulders Magnus turned around to find an empty hallway behind him. Pursing his lips again, he closed the door softly and made his way back downstairs.

* * *

 

Magnus got settled in his new home after a few days. He even opened a small shop of alternative medicine at the store-front. People seemed to be curious about what he was doing and asked around. He got to meet his neighbours, they all seemed to say the same thing: “You won’t stay long.” He just laughed.

He was humming softly while cutting some herbs and watching Chairman play with the sun that reflected on one of his many light catchers. Smiling at the cat, he looked at the old book on his table, studying what he needed to do. Turning back to his table he frowned at the lack of a knife he was JUST using.

“Really? Gonna play that game?” He rolled his eyes and took out a new one and resumed following the recipe.

Later that evening he found the knife laying in his bed and rolled his eyes again. “So dramatic.” He whispered to himself before putting the knife away in a drawer.

Similar things kept happening to different objects, but it only annoyed Magnus. There was nothing scary about a disappearing hairbrush or two.

Then the sounds started. At night, Magnus would hear walking around, the windows would rattle and shake, even something close to wailing from the walls. It only resulted in him being in a bad mood because of bad night’s sleep. In the mornings, Magnus would see cracks in the walls and windows that would slowly disappear during the day only to appear at night again.

He felt eyes on him most of the time and shivers were constantly running over his back.

It was annoying. But when he found his makeup trashed, Magnus snapped.

“If you wanna play the trashing game go ahead, but stay away from my makeup or I’ll make sure you regret it! And if you break something and Chairman Meow cuts his paws, I’ll find a way to banish you!” He yelled at noone in particular, but whatever it was, it got the message. His makeup stayed fine and things didn’t shatter that often. Magnus chuckled to himself. His unintentional roommate was a bit weird, but he found his pranks rather amusing when not annoying. It kept him on his toes, never letting him get too relaxed.

* * *

He was relaxing on his couch now, petting his cat and reading a book. A quiet afternoon that he enjoyed quite a lot but was disrupted with all the lights going out and windows starting to clatter as if there was a storm outside. He rolled his eyes and waited for it to pass. A shiver ran down his spine and he shivered; it’d gotten really cold in the room. Slowly Magnus looked around trying to find another figure in the room.

Suddenly, a boy appeared right in front of him. He looked furious, but that wasn’t why Magnus was staring. Sure, the boy was a bit transparent and he seemed to float a bit, but even in his dark pants and an overworn sweater the boy looked gorgeous. He had the most brilliant blue eyes Magnus had ever seen and his dark hair contrasted beautifully with his pale skin. Magnus kept staring as the boy's voice rang through the room, echoing a bit, like he wasn’t completely there.

“Why the fuck aren’t you scared?! I’ve tried everything, so WHY are you still here?! You’re annoying, get out!” A window cracked at his words, but Magnus kept staring, eyes wide. Because, well.. The boy was so… _Pretty..._

The boy just growled at him and crossed his arms over himself, hunching his shoulders, trying to hide or seem smaller. His glare at Magnus was ice cold.

“Why are you staring at me like that? It’s not like you didn’t know that I was here! You talked to me!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know you were this pretty.” That seemed to shock the boy, and Magnus didn’t know that ghosts could blush, but the boy looked even cuter now. The boy seemed to look around and he started to disappear before Magnus stopped him.

“Hey, wait, don’t hide, come on. We’re gonna be roommates anyways, might as well get to know each other.”

It didn’t look like the ghost was trusting him much, giving him a sceptical look.

“I’m Magnus Bane, what’s your name?”

The boy seemed to ponder that for a moment and Magnus wondered just how long it was since anyone talked to him, but he was snapped out of his thoughts by a soft voice.

“Alec.”

“Short for Alexander?”

“No one calls me that.” Alec pouted.

“Well, I will. Nice to meet you, Alexander.” Magnus was rewarded by a small hesitant smile, but it did wonders to Alec’s eyes because they seemed to shine now. Alec looked down, blushing again, hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched.

“You’re stubborn. Why did you stay?” Magnus just laughed and Alec blinked up at him, staring before looking away.

“It will take more than moving things to scare me, darling. I misplace my own things all the time so it’s no different when you hide them.” Alec smiles at that and Magnus couldn’t help but stare.

“I noticed…” Alec seemed to realize he’d said that out loud and blushed again making Magnus chuckle.

* * *

 

Magnus was concentrating on an old book and writing something, there were herbs and glass vials everywhere around him and it surprised Alec that he knew where anything was in that mess.

“What are you doing?” Magnus jumped, startled.

“Jesus, Alec, don’t scare me.” Alec just looked at him for a second before bursting into laughter and all Magnus could do was stare because even if the sound is a bit echoey, it’s still beautiful and Alec looks so happy—a smile on his face, head thrown back, laughing heartily.

“I’ve made the walls howl and crack and THAT’S what scares you!” And Magnus couldn’t help but laugh too, because Alec was right.

From then on, Magnus found out that Alec was quite curious and liked to watch Magnus work. And he was nice to talk to. More than once, talking to Alec had helped Magnus figure out a difficult spell or recipe.

* * *

 

“I’m not doing it.”

“What! Why? I’ll pay!”

“That’s not the point! I’m not going to curse your ex because he left you!” Magnus was dealing with a particularly difficult client. The girl was young, but he could see she was spoiled and was used to getting her way. She wanted him to curse some guy just because he left her for another boy.

“I didn’t come here all the way just for you to deny me! I had quite the trouble in finding you and you dare to say no? You’ll regret it!”

“You don’t understand what you’re asking for, girl. And your threats mean nothing to me.” His glare was ice cold. This girl just wouldn’t back down and it was getting on his nerves. Magnus folded his hands over his chest and looked at the girl, the lights flickered as he growled at her.

“Leave. Now.” Her eyes grew wide as she looked around and shivered, now scared. She didn’t argue anymore and left hurriedly. Magnus looked around and chuckled.

“Really? Lights flickering? Classic.” Laughter sounded behind him and he turned to look at Alec who just shrugged with a grin.

“She was getting on my nerves.” Magnus laughed softly.

“Mine too.”

“How come you refused her? I didn’t think you cared that much.” Magnus looked at him with a weird look in his eyes that Alec couldn’t understand.

“Thou hast obeyed the Law. But mark well, when thou receivest good, so equally art bound to return good threefold.” Magnus replied, his tone soft. “Meaning, everything you do, good or bad, will come back to you threefold. I’m not crazy enough to curse someone and get it three times back, and not evil enough to give her the responsibility of the curse so it comes back to her. She’s too young and I just hope she won’t find anyone who will help her with a curse.” He bit his lip now, thinking and Alec smiled watching the warlock.

* * *

 

“I never apologized, did I?” Alec watched as Magnus lowered the book he was reading. Watching Magnus, Alec couldn’t help but think of a cat, especially when he was lounging around on his sofa in weird positions that couldn’t be comfortable unless you were a cat. Right now Magnus had his feet on the backrest, his back propped on pillows and his head was very close to hanging over the edge. He looked at Alec from his upside down position raising his eyebrows questioningly.

“For trying to scare you away when you came here.” Alec answered the silent question joining Magnus on the couch as the warlock watched him and gave him a soft smile.

“It’s okay, though I’m curious why you tried to.” Magnus’ gaze traveled over the boy sitting next to him, flicking over the deep gashes on his wrists that would never heal. The ghost pulled his sweater sleeves down to his palms as soon as he noticed Magnus’ gaze, looking down and closing his eyes, trying to hide. When he opened his eyes again Magnus was giving him an apologetic smile; he never meant to make the boy uncomfortable.

“I… Was so used to being alone… The possibility of that changing terrified me.” Alec explained biting his lip. “I was scared, I guess, that I’d have to leave and won’t have a place in the world. Again.” He didn’t dare to look at Magnus again. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the man raise his hand as if to put it on his knee in a comforting gesture, but stopped before his hand went right through Alec and put it back down on the sofa. There was silence between the two for a while until Magnus’ soft whisper broke it.

“I’m glad I stayed.”

Alec looked at him in surprise and there was no sign of lie on the warlock's face and it made the ghost smile softly. “Yeah, me too.”

 

 

* * *

 

Chairman seemed to like Alec. He seemed to follow the boy around and whenever Alec would sit the cat would promptly plop down next to him. Magnus found that adorable because the ghost just couldn’t get rid of the tail that trailed everywhere after him. Chairman would even find him when he’d disappear in one room and appear in another. Magnus amused himself by watching how Alec once again tried to run away from the tiny cat. But Chairman Meow decided that it was a fun game and ran around after him. Magnus also liked that Alec was laughing too and he seemed more alive, as alive as a ghost can be, these days.

“Looks like you have quite the admirer.” Alec giggled glancing at the taller man who seemed to be mixing a weirdly colored liquid.

“Oh yeah, he’s quite the fan. I can’t get him to leave me alone.”

“Be careful now, I might get jealous.” Magnus’ eyes shone with laughter.

“Of what, me getting all of his attention? It’s not like he’ll listen if I tell him to stop. He’s a cat.” Alec blushed and looked back at Magnus who just shook his head in laughter. He then looked down at the open book next to him, a smile still playing on his lips and clicked his tongue softly, calling the cat. The Chairman seemed to perk up at the sound and walked up to his owner, jumping on the counter. Magnus smiled at him looking straight into the cat’s eyes and Alec watched in amazement as both of their eyes flashed gold, Magnus’ eyes slitting like a cat’s, mirroring his pet’s as he spoke to the small cat.

“Get me three fireflies, please.” The cat meowed softly and their eyes turned back to normal as the familiar went outside.

“You use your cat for that?”Alec teased lightly.

“Hey, I’m not catching fireflies on my own, I’ll just end up squishing them. And no one is a better hunter than my cat.” He looked proud and the grin on his face was impossible not to return.

* * *

 

Alec watched the warlock with curiosity as he was finishing up a ritual of some sorts. The candles illuminated him and made him look like he was made of magic himself. Alec’s eyes traveled over the tall man taking note of his numerous piercings, brightly colored hair and tattoos that were visible from under his eccentric clothes. He couldn’t help but smile when Magnus turned to him finished with what he was doing.

“Enjoying yourself watching me, darling?” Magnus teased and Alec blushed but didn’t look away.

“Before meeting you, if someone would have said ‘warlock’ I would definitely not imagine someone looking like you.” the ghost explained grinning, making Magnus laugh.

“I suppose red leather pants don’t really say ‘I can do magic’ do they?” Magnus laughed before adding “But they do say ‘I am fabulous!’” He grinned, surprising a laugh out of Alec. As Magnus went to put his things away Alec kept watching him silently. Something about Magnus was just so mesmerizing. Maybe it was the way he moved, with the grace of a cat and sometimes he stepped like he was dancing to his own music that no one else could hear. And when he actually danced around the house to loud music singing along Alec couldn’t help but blush at the sight. That’s why he stayed out of sight when Magnus did it though the warlock had asked him to join on a few times. The ghost didn’t see the point in that but Magnus kept trying.

Alec liked watching Magnus do magic because he changed then. No movement out of place, everything had a meaning and a purpose. He could hear the power in his words even if he didn’t understand them. And sometimes when blue fire danced on Magnus’ fingertips he would become the most beautiful and powerful thing Alec had ever seen. Blue magic would illuminate the warlock's face making him so painfully beautiful, and the way blue sparks played in the taller man's eyes would take Alec’s breath away even if physically he didn’t need to breathe anymore. And then the magic would be over and Magnus would turn from this strict and serious magical being to the usual easy going and teasing self, smiling at Alec with his usual smile and Alec would swear he could still feel his heart skipping a beat every time the man smiled at him.

It made Alec want to touch the man like he never touched anyone. He wanted to hug the warlock and not let go. Sometimes Alec would catch himself thinking of kissing Magnus and he’d blush and close his eyes because even if he wanted he could never do that. It was bittersweet living with the man because he was the nicest person ever and Alec loved every second of it but he hated it at the same time because he’d always remember why he was there in the first place.

* * *

 

“Are you getting up?” Alec shyly peeked his head into Magnus’ bedroom. Usually he respected the other’s privacy and stayed out of his room unless invited but today Magnus was taking a long time to get up making the other worry. The man in question groaned.

“Mmmmm. Noooo. I’m tired.” Magnus replied barely lifting his head from the pillow.

“Are you sick?” There was worry in Alec’s voice now as he stepped into the messy room. Magnus peeked an eye open and watched as Alec came closer.

“Just the spell I did yesterday. I’m gonna have a lazy day.” The warlock finished with a yawn, stretching and making Alec realize that he slept shirtless. With a blush the ghost looked away and started to turn to leave but Magnus’ sleepy voice stopped him.

“Will you stay if I promise to put on a shirt?” Looking back at the other male who was looking at him through barely open eyes. That one look was enough to make a shiver run up Alec’s spine. Since when did ghosts get shivers? He looked at the cat like man on the bed questioningly.

“I thought you were gonna sleep?” Magnus gave him a lazy smile sitting up.

“Now I’m awake.” He patted the free space next to him on the bed. “Come on, let’s watch movies. I’ll just get bored alone.” Alec gave the warlock a questioning stare.

“And you want a ghost to keep you company?” He teased a smile playing on his lips. Magnus chuckled.

“Yep. Now you better be on that bed when I come back with breakfast.” Magnus got up with a laugh, got a shirt and left the room leaving Alec alone in the colorful bedroom. He shook his head a small blush appearing on his cheeks and approached the bed slowly sitting on the edge.

“My pillows don’t bite you know.” Magnus laughed as he stepped back into the room with a tray of food, the Chairman following him. The small cat immediately jumped on the bed and curled up on one of the pillows, Alec smiled.

“Now one might.” He commented making Magnus smile. The taller man got back to his spot on the bed putting a laptop between them and turning on a random movie.

They spent the day like that, watching random movies and talking, laughing together. Magnus would sometimes doze off and Alec couldn’t help but smile looking at him. The ghost looked between the sleeping man and his cat with a fond smile, they were both curled up in a similar position. Magnus was definitely a cat.

Slowly, Alec raised his hand, a blush appearing on his cheeks as he reached for the sleeping man. He wanted to try touching him. Biting his lip, Alec brushed his fingers over Magnus’ hair softly, it was barely enough for the hair to move and all Alec could feel was some resistance, something close to feeling a strong wind against his body, it was pressure, but not enough to stop him. The ghost was still running his fingers through the warlocks hair when the sleeping man sighed softly and leaned into the barely there touch. Alec froze, scared that Magnus woke up and caught him doing something creepy, but the taller man just smiled softly and relaxed back into sleep. Alec released a breath he didn’t know he was holding and pulled his hand away, looking down and playing with his sweater sleeves nervously. He wasn’t sure what to do now, Magnus seemed in a deeper sleep than before and the ghost didn’t want to be a creep and watch the other sleep. But he enjoyed the company, even if Magnus was sleeping, it felt cozy and for the first time in years Alec felt at home.

* * *

 

“Would you tell me why you did it?” The question was asked in a soft, unsure voice, something that Alec didn’t relate to Magnus. It surprised him and rang in his ears as he hunched his shoulders, closing his eyes. Magnus was sitting next to him quietly, unsure if he should say something else or if he should let Alec decide.

The silence was louder than any conversation they ever had and Magnus was sure that any second Alec would tell him to mind his own business and disappear, hide away. To his surprise the ghost spoke softly.

“I felt so alone.” Alec drew a shaky breath, remembering. Could ghosts cry? Magnus wasn’t sure and he kept silent, letting Alec continue if he wanted to.

“I was in love with my best friend. And I was so scared to tell him. I kept telling myself that I was happy with how things were. But then a girl came into his life and he kept choosing her over me and I was jealous and angry at him, at her, but mostly at myself. I felt like such a disappointment to everyone around me. We kept getting into trouble with my parents, because neither he or my sister would listen to me and I always took the blame. My parents snapped when they found out I was gay and threw me out. I just couldn’t take it anymore, it was too much. I ended up hating myself and I honestly believed that no one would care if I died.” Alec buried his face in his shaking hands, not once did he look at Magnus as he spoke, his voice breaking at points. The warlock wanted to touch the boy, to comfort him, he didn’t think as he raised his hand and put it on Alec’s shoulder, stopping when he felt soft pressure, a touch that was barely there. Alec jumped at the touch but still didn’t look at the other male.

They stayed like that for a while, Magnus waited for Alec to calm down a bit, he felt bad for not being able to hug the boy and comfort him properly. He felt himself leaning closer to the ghost boy but not enough to touch him. Alec could feel the warmth from Magnus right next to him but he still wasn’t brave enough to turn his head and look at him. He felt like a real coward but the soft touch on his shoulder was comforting and helping him to calm down. A soft question broke him out of his thoughts.

“Would you live again if you could?” Alec laughed sadly.

“I think I would, but what’s the point in wanting something that’s impossible, right?” He finally turned to Magnus and was surprised at how close the other man was to him. He seemed to have a thoughtful expression on his face and didn’t notice just how close their faces were. Alec blushed and turned away again, biting his lip.

* * *

 

“Magnus, you fell asleep on your table again.” The sleeping man groaned softly and Alec laughed to himself. “No, really, wake up and go to bed.” Magnus opened his sleepy eyes and looked at Alec still dazed. He blinked a few times and stretched yawning.

“This is the third day in a row that you fall asleep on your books. What are you looking for?” Magnus gave him a lazy smile as he stood up.

“A spell.”

“No shit.” Alec heard Magnus laugh as he walked off to his room to finally get some decent sleep.

“I found it!” The warlocks excited shout startled Alec from where he was playing with Chairman. He looked to the man and saw a huge grin on his face that made Alec smile.

“You found the spell you were looking for? Does that mean you’ll be sleeping properly again?” Magnus grinned at him.

“Probably not.” He answered and started to write things down on a blank sheet of paper.

“What’s the spell for, anyways?” Alec’s curiosity got the better of him as he approached the warlock.

“Curiosity killed the cat.” Came a mumbled reply as Magnus was concentrating.

“But satisfaction brought it back.” Alec stuck out his tongue at the taller man and heard him chuckle to himself.

The rest of the day Magnus was preparing for the spell as Alec watched him with curiosity. The warlock seemed to smile to himself as he gathered everything he needed and as the day was nearing it’s end he finally drew a pentagram on the floor and surrounded it with red candles. He smiled at Alec softly, telling him to stay where he was and stepped into the pentagram circle. The warlock concentrated on the energy around him and drew out a ceremonial dagger, quietly repeating the words he’d learned from the spell he could feel the magic around him, his eyes changed to golden cat eyes as he kept repeating the spell. Slowly he cut his left wrist, making himself bleed. He could hear Alec’s worried voice as he asked what he was doing and Magnus looked at him just as the drop of blood hit the center of the pentagram and the candles around him flickered with fire all at once.

He reached a hand out to Alec with a soft “Come here.” and hoped the ghost would listen. Alec looked sceptical and walked closer to the circle of candles separating them in a wall of light.

“I mean it. Step in.” Magnus smiled and Alec looked bewildered.

“I swear to whatever Gods there are if this hurts you I’ll make you regret it.” Magnus just laughed as the ghost slowly stepped into the pentagrams circle. As soon as both of his feet were inside he stumbled, feeling like there was a weight on his whole body and Magnus caught him, holding Alec up by his hand.

The boy looked at the warlock with wide eyes as he slowly straightened up. His hands were shaking now.

“Magnus? We’re touching?” The taller man’s grin lit up his whole face and Alec couldn’t help but mirror it. He couldn’t control himself and hugged Magnus tightly, the taller man returning the hug. When Alec realized just how close they were he felt a blush creep on his face as he tried to hide his face in the warlock’s shoulder.

They stayed like that for a while, just hugging tightly, Alec could feel Magnus’ warmth seeping into his body and closed his eyes relaxing. He could feel the taller man so close to him, just how he wanted so many times and sighed softly as Magnus ran his hands up Alec’s back softly causing the boy to shiver. The ghost could feel the warlocks soft smile as he pressed his lips to Alec’s forehead softly making the boy gasp softly.

Slowly the taller man’s hands traveled up Alec’s body and he was soon tilting the shorter one’s head up, looking into his eyes with his own cat eyes that had magic dancing in them. Alec’s fingers grasped at Magnus’ shirt as his eyes widened and he couldn’t look away from the gorgeous man in front of him, unconsciously he bit his lip and his breath jumped as Magnus’ eyes followed the movement. Alec felt like he was in a trance and all he could think was how good it felt to have the warlock’s hands around him and have his hands around the taller man. He didn’t even notice how he leaned up slowly as Magnus leaned down and closed the distance between their lips. All Alec knew that suddenly his eyes were closed and they were kissing softly, and Magnus was stealing his breath away with his fingers in his hair and with just how softly he kissed Alec.

When Magnus pulled away Alec chased him, not ready for it to end, making the other smile into the kiss before it turned more urgent, both of them feeling like they wouldn’t survive if they broke apart. Two kisses turned into three, three into four and soon they lost count of how many kisses there were, all that mattered was that they could touch, they could feel the other pressed against them.

When they pulled apart—both breathing heavily—Alec leaned into Magnus, their fingers intertwining, it almost seemed like if they stopped touching everything would disappear.

“I’m not alive, am I? I can’t feel my heart…” Alec asked softly and Magnus shook his head in response.

“No. You just have a physical body while you’re in this circle. As soon as either of us leaves the spell will be broken and you’ll return to how you were.” His explanation was soft and Alec smiled at it closing his eyes again, listening to Magnus’ heartbeat. At least he got this much.

* * *

 

After the spell Magnus spent the next two days in bed, exhausted. Alec kept worrying about him and tried to make Magnus promise to never do that spell again to what he just snorted.

“No way, I liked it too much.”

“Well then I just won’t get in and you’ll have to stop it.” Alec replied, hoping to make Magnus see reason. He just replied with one of his mischievous smiles.

“Or I’ll stay in the circle waiting for you and just get exhausted anyways and all for nothing. You know I’ll do it.” Alec looked at him shocked before his expression changed to one of worry.

“Please don’t. You’ll exhaust yourself. Could you at least promise me not to do it too often? So you won’t get so tired? Please, I worry.” Magnus smiled at him softly, extending his hand as if to take Alec’s but just put it on the bed next to the ghost.

“I promise to be smart about this, okay? And I’ll get better with practice.” Alec still worried but put his hand over Magnus’ with a nod.

 

 

* * *

 

Magnus was right, he did get better with the spell. Which meant they could stay longer with fewer effects on Magnus. Alec was happy to be able to touch him and Magnus kept taking his breath away. Usually they would just sit on the floor and cuddle, enjoying each other's company. Soon their kisses turned more heated and neither could keep their hands to themselves. Alec couldn’t help but shiver in pleasure at having Magnus so close to himself, in his lap, pressed close as they kissed. He enjoyed the sounds Magnus was making just for him and tried to press closer to the warlock to which Magnus responded with a soft groan right next to Alec’s ear. It all seemed like a weird dream, the pentagram and the candles giving an eerie effect, making Magnus look even more magical than he already was and Alec realized just how macabre the situation was. He smiled and pressed a kiss to Magnus’ shoulder softly and moved his hips making another moan escape through the other man’s lips. They kissed again, slow and deep, enjoying the moment and Alec ran his fingers over Magnus’ naked back making the warlock shiver, the movement causing both of them to gasp. Alec tried to hide his grin in the other’s shoulder but Magnus’ didn’t let him, catching his eye with a smile on his lips.

“What is it?” He asked softly trailing a finger over the ghosts smiling lips.

“You realize how weird this situation is?” Alec asked with a mischievous look in his eyes. “I’m supposed to be a ghost. Yet here I am, in this position, in a pentagram, with you.” He moved his hips for effect and Magnus let out a shaky laugh that made them both moan and forget all about the conversation for a while.

* * *

 

Alec watched with mild interest as Magnus turned the house upside down looking for something.

“Magnus, what are you looking for?” Alec rolled his eyes as the warlock groaned again, not finding what he wanted in the huge bookcase.

“A book.” Magnus was grinning now, knowing how much his cryptic answers annoyed Alec, as he kept looking.

“No fucking way.” Was the answer he got from the ghost making him laugh. Suddenly he gasped and ran into his room, disappearing into his huge closet as Alec watched, amused.

“Did you really hide it in your closet and forget?” He teased as the warlock emerged, carrying a wooden box. He rolled his eyes looking back at Alec.

“It’s a very dangerous book and it’s very rare. It has to be kept hidden.” Magnus explained putting the box down on the bed, sitting next to it, patting the empty side of the bed for Alec to join. The warlock opened the box to reveal a simple black book. It looked like a simple notebook to Alec, but he didn’t question what Magnus had said. He’d seen the man’s personal grimoire and it looked similar, but the ghost knew what powerful spells were written inside of it.

The warlock took the book carefully and started looking through the pages, looking for something in particular. He was biting his lip nervously as his eyes darted through the books pages until they found what they were looking for. Opening the pages fully, Magnus read them to make sure he had the right spell in front of him before nervously turning the book so Alec could read it. The handwriting was hard to understand but once he got used to it and read the contents the ghost raised his eyebrows and looked at Magnus.

“That’s possible?”

The warlock only nodded slowly still biting his lip.

“But like I said—dangerous.” Magnus was looking at him with no lie in his eyes. He knew that in this case he had to be completely honest with the boy. He sighed softly giving the other a small smile. “But I want to try.” The ghost pursed his lips looking back into the warlock’s eyes.

“I don’t want you to be in danger because of me, Mags.” The warlock kept smiling at him with a tender expression on his face.

“I know. I promise I won’t try if you refuse to do it. But I don’t want to be like this anymore, darling. I want to be able to touch you when I want to, without having to draw a pentagram. This is dangerous and if we go through with it there’s no light at the end of the tunnel for either of us, I won’t lie about that. But I want to be with you, properly. I want to give you a chance to live again and I’m willing to take the risk.” Alec knew that Magnus wasn’t lying, he’d never do so about something so important and he trusted the warlock like he’s never trusted anyone. He bit his lip, thinking and slowly raised a hand, wanting to brush off the hair that fell on Magnus’ face, but it barely moved yet the taller man still leaned into his touch.

“You’re right, I want that too. Let’s try this.” He smiled nervously at Magnus and got a similar smile back.

* * *

 

“It’s gonna be a hard one, I’ll tell you that. I might pass out.” Magnus explained as he got ready for the spell. “The spell works like this: it ties you to my life force, sharing it with you. It might not even work, it all depends. And it won’t work as soon as the spell is cast, you’ll regain your physical body slowly.” He turned and looked directly at Alec for the last part. “With your first heartbeat however long I have left to live is cut in half. When I die, so do you. You have to know that.” He was looking Alec directly in the eyes, making sure the ghost understood everything. There was no doubt in Magnus’ eyes and it only steeled Alec’s decision to do this.

Slowly the warlock stepped into the drawn pentagram and turned to look at Alec. He was nervous, sure, but he was never as sure about something as this. Whispering the difficult spell, he drew his ceremonial dagger, feeling the magic around him shift to his words, Magnus motioned for Alec to step in and stand in front of him. Slowly he cut both of his wrists as Alec winced and let the blood drip to the floor, making the candles around them flame up as the warlock whispered the rest of the spell. He took Alec’s hands and aligned them so his bleeding wrists were over Alec’s never healing ones. Alec kept looking at Magnus’ cat eyes and didn’t notice how his old wounds healed and how red strings appeared on both of their wrists, tying them together. The energy around them seemed to shift as Magnus whispered the rest of the spell, his words were heavy and he seemed to sway on his feet now, holding onto Alec.

Magnus barely managed to finish the spell and as soon as the candles died out he collapsed to his knees, breathing heavy. Alec kneeled next to him, worried that something was wrong but the warlock assured him that he was just tired and stood up after regaining his breath.

* * *

 

Magnus seemed to sleep for three days, only waking up under Alec’s coaxing to eat, the ghost kept close to him, worried about the man. He just seemed so tired all those days and the ghost wanted to help, but it seemed that the spell was slow to take and he remained a ghost. Magnus just smiled when Alec pointed that out and murmured “I told you it was a slow one…” and closed his eyes again, petting Chairman who seemed to take a permanent residence on Magnus’ chest. Alec smiled fondly at the sight.

The warlock was finally feeling better and was walking around the house, taking care of things though he still looked tired and ready to pass out. He seemed to perk up when Alec sneezed.

“Why are you looking at me like that? My sneeze can’t be that weird.” Alec pouted.

“Yeah, Alec, you sneezed.”

“It’s probably because all of those herbs hanging there.” The ghost turned away from the taller man as he sat next to him.

“No, you don’t get it. _You sneezed._ When was the last time that happened?” Magnus raised his eyebrows expectantly with a smile on his lips. At first Alec didn’t get what the man was saying but it slowly dawned on him.

“Oh. Does it mean it’s working?” He was just excited as Magnus now a smile lighting up his face. Magnus chuckled.

“Slowly. But it seems so.” They both looked at their wrists, the red strings still there, looking like some kind of weird bracelets.

It was a slow process for Alec. At first he wasn’t able to float anymore “Well that’s something I’ll miss.” He commented, making Magnus laugh. He wasn’t able to disappear anymore, then started casting a shadow and making noise when walking. It was weird when he started feeling tired and had to sleep but Alec enjoyed sleeping next to Magnus, and eating food was something he’d missed and was happy when he had to again. He really missed coffee. When his body solidified Magnus and him spent an entire day just cuddling and kissing, enjoying each others company, Chairman had joined them too. The last thing that remained was his heartbeat, Magnus was sure it would appear soon and wasn’t worried that it was taking longer.

Alec woke with a start, sitting up and breathing heavy. He could see Magnus in the same state right next to him and looked at the warlock with wide eyes. The taller man seemed to be staring at him with the same expression.

“Magnus.” Alec whispered in a shaky breath and gave him a weak smile. “My heart.” And sure as hell in his chest he could feel a heartbeat stronger than ever before.

 


End file.
